Frankie

Frankie is delightfully witty, deeply engaging historical fiction from Graham Norton. Released 14th Jan 2025 by HarperCollins on their HarperVia imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

Fans of the author's work in video/tv media will likely be surprised by the depth and quality of the writing (since print media is emphatically not the same as TV), but here is a happy surprise: the author is adept, indeed quite talented, at both. This was a fun read from start to finish. It's quite often poignant, and nostalgic, and especially for readers who remember the 90s and AIDS epidemic, and losing our friends way too young, this story will bring back lots of memories. 

The language is evocative and well wrought and the characters are distinct and believable. Frankie herself is lovely, and honestly someone readers will wish were part of their own real lives. She's irascible (she's broken an ankle and impatient to be up and about) but irresistible and full of history. The pacing is quite measured, it's 100% character driven and there's not a lot of action. 

So intelligent and well written. Highly recommended. It would make an excellent choice for public library acquisition, home reading, or a really fine book club selection or buddy read. 

Five stars. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.